Severe weather damages blues label Malaco Records

Produced by Eight Forty-Eight

April 25, 2011

AP/Vickie D. King

Malaco Records suffered extensive property damage after it was hit by a tornado on April 15.

April has brought more than just showers. In fact some local spring weather has been downright violent. A string of tornadoes in Midwest and Southern states left at least 45 dead and property destroyed.

One of the buildings that took a big hit was Malaco Records. The label is located in Jackson, Mississippi, but it has deep connections to Chicago. Many local blues artists found a home there.

To find out more, Eight Forty-Eight heard from local record store owner George Daniels, who distributed some of Malaco’s titles in Chicago. Daniels told WBEZ’s Richard Steele about limited opportunities for black artists to sell their music.

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Steele also talked to someone personally affected by the destruction of Malaco. Musician Stan Mosley released several albums on the label, and he told Richard what happened to his recordings.